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Advice On Fixing Slalom Binding


CedarLakeSkier

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So the last day of the season I was skiing and the metal plate on the back of my binding pops off and the rear binding is being held on by the two front screws. This is the second plate I've lost to the bottom of the lake.

Well I picked up another plate and screw set and went to fix it this weekend and it turns out the holes on the ski are stripped out.

In the attached picture is blue HO Triumph with the metal plate attached. Next to it is my red HO Triumph with a pen sitting just below the holes that are stripped. My rear animal binding is right next to it.

The screws are a #8 Machine screw flat head screw 5/8" long. I tried getting a screw a little longer (3/4") to see if I could catch any threads that were left, but no luck.

Any advice on how to fix this? Can I tap the holes to the next size larger (#10 ?) screw or is there an insert in the ski? Anyone information or advice from anyone who has done this would be appreciated.

Thanks

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Edited by CedarLakeSkier
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I know I've seen other info on this somewhere. I think it was in the manual for the plate for my FM bindings. I'll keep looking.

I found it, but it's too big to upload here. There are pretty detailed instructions and pictures in PDF. PM me your email address and I'll send it your way.

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Last season I had a screw strip out on my system 8 and ended up replacing the whole insert. After seeing how much I had to drill out to replace the entire insert I wished I had either just used a stainless helicoil or just drilled and tapped for the next screw size up. The factory inserts are pretty large and there is plenty of material to go up one thread size.

Something else I noticed was that the plate that is used to stiffen the binding plate is pretty thick and you don't get much thread engagement. I purchased longer screws and cut them down to get more thread engagement. I think the thread engagement is the root cause for stripping the inserts out. I used to pull up pretty hard on my rear binding coming in to turns and during deep water starts way back when I was on a Freeride series ski. I actually bent a binding plate before I had one of the aluminum stiffening plates.

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Thanks for the info, everyone.

glasslake, thanks for the instructions. The one thing they don't say is how to get the current insert out of the ski. I have a feeling that won't be easy.

Wayne, how did you get the insert out of your system 8? I agree with you on the thread engagement. It looks like they could have easily gone with a 3/4" length instead of 5/8" with a little less counter sink on the aluminum plate.

With that said, I think I'll try to tap new threads one size up before I try anything drastic like removing and replacing the inserts.

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Thanks for the info, everyone.

glasslake, thanks for the instructions. The one thing they don't say is how to get the current insert out of the ski. I have a feeling that won't be easy.

Wayne, how did you get the insert out of your system 8? I agree with you on the thread engagement. It looks like they could have easily gone with a 3/4" length instead of 5/8" with a little less counter sink on the aluminum plate.

With that said, I think I'll try to tap new threads one size up before I try anything drastic like removing and replacing the inserts.

Try this. They discuss an EZ Out screw extractor, carefully slotting the insert with a Dremel cutting disc, and Electrical Discharge Machining (yeesh!) as some options.

Sounds like the tap is a good way to go, but be careful not to break it off in the insert.

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The factory HO inserts are molded in when the ski is made. It is not possible to "unscrew" them since the outer diameter is not threaded. It has almost a star type pattern that are set in a nylon type material. So you have to drill them out.

You can use a hand held drill bit have to make sure it is kept perpendicular to the ski surface. A drill press is the best way. I used a hand drill but took my time. I started drilling with a bit just slightly larger than the threads and just kept increasing the drill size until the entire factory insert was gone. The factory inserts are around a half inch in diameter, maybe a bit bigger. This was actually bigger than the replacement insert I used (purchased from amazon, I think I got 50 for $10). So I epoxied the new insert in place. It held for the entire season until my ski tip delaminated (definately not related to the insert repair).

The inserts I used were nothing special, just brass inserts designed for soft wood. The two tricks to completely removing an insert are keeping the drill perpendicular to the ski surface and not letting the drill catch and punch through the bottom of the ski.

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